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BOWL OF ORANGES – 5 Years of Emde Gallery | Part I
Location: EMDE GALLERY - Mainz
Artists
Part I: Ronia Adl-Tabatabai | Josephine Adu | Poppy Luley | Ivana Matić | Lena Mai Merle | Alina Röbke | Lea Schäfer | Alexandra Sonntag | Danijel Šijaković
We are delighted to present the group exhibition Bowl of Oranges on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of Emde Gallery! The exhibition opens on the 27th of June in our gallery space in Mainz Neustadt. The gallery's inaugural exhibition, Erstbegehung / First Ascent, took place here on the 26th of June, 2020, marking Emde Gallery’s entry into the Rhine-Main art scene. Since then, significant artistic positions have been presented in regular solo and group exhibitions that engage with central questions of the present and provide insight into current art discourses.
OPENING and WELCOME by Marianne Grosse, Head of Cultural Affairs: Friday, 27th of June, 2025, 6:00 to 8:30 pm
The exhibition title Bowl of Oranges is borrowed from the song of the same name by the American indie folk band Bright Eyes, led by Conor Oberst. In the final verse, the lyrical voice suggests that it would be nice to stop the world for a moment to recognize it as a beautiful whole of which we are all a part:
"And we’ll keep working on the problem we know we’ll never solve
of Love’s uneven remainders. Our lives are fractions of a whole.
But if the world could remain within a frame like a painting on the wall.
Then I think we’d see the beauty.
Then we’d stand staring in awe
at our still lives posed
like a bowl of oranges,
like a story told by the fault lines and the soil."
Within the context of the exhibition, the title unfolds a multi-layered meaning: as a classic still life motif, the bowl of oranges symbolizes art itself; at the same time, it refers to the gallery as a space for the diverse artists and their practices; additionally, “orange” has been the gallery’s signature color from the very beginning; and finally, the title – as evoked in the Bright Eyes song – recalls the irresolvable contradictions and fractures of the world that art cannot solve, but can make visible and emotionally perceptible.
The exhibition “Bowl of Oranges” brings together all the artists currently represented by the gallery. Each of them has shaped its profile over the past five years. With their different approaches and perspectives, they reflect a broad spectrum of contemporary art across painting, photography, cyanotype, installation, sculpture, ceramics, and drawing – offering a multifaceted insight into the gallery’s programme.
The exhibition includes both selected highlights and new works created specifically for this occasion. While some artists directly engaged with the motif of the orange still life, others responded more loosely and associatively to the title and its themes.
The show is presented in two parts: Part I runs from June 28 to July 19. Part II follows from August 23 to September 20 (with a summer break from July 21 to August 16).
Part I features works by nine artists working in painting, drawing, photography, and ceramics: Ronia Adl-Tabatabai, Josephine Adu, Poppy Luley, Ivana Matić, Lena Mai Merle, Alina Röbke, Lea Schäfer, Alexandra Sonntag, and Danijel Šijaković. The opening, with a welcome address by Marianne Grosse, Head of Cultural Affairs, will take place on June 27, from 6:00 – 8:30 pm.
Part II includes works by: Chris Bierl, Götz Diergarten, Lukas Gartiser, Shin Jeong Hoon, Vincent Kück, Theresa Lawrenz, Hendrik Otremba, Katja von Puttkamer, and Florian Witt. The opening will take place on August 22, from 6:00 – 8:30 pm.
Artists
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